


We're Smiling But We're Close to Tears

by Life_is_Struggle



Series: We Are Children that Need to Be Loved [3]
Category: Descendants (2015), Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: F/F, of course they take care of each other, these two are my brotp, they are the overt protectors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8117644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Life_is_Struggle/pseuds/Life_is_Struggle
Summary: “Your arm throw needs work,” he commented as he settled his back on the roof tiles, bringing his arms up to cradle his head. “I don’t remember asking for your judgment,” Mal barked.Mal has been acting strange for the past couple of weeks, so Jay decides to check up on her. Turns out, she's not fine. Then, again, will they ever be?





	

_Thump._

A tiny rock almost made contact with Jay’s face as he raised his head to look on the roof. Thankfully, his reflexes kicked in and he ducked, saving his nose and quite possibly his left eye. Shuddering at the mental image of his face partly covered by an eye-patch for the rest of his life, Jay dared to peek over the wall once again, spying at the cause of his distress.

She was easily hidden by the absence of moonlight, aided by the dark purple of her clothes, which blended in with the dark blue tiles of the roof. She was slumped against the upward tilt of the roof, hands in her pockets.

Jay was ready to make his presence known, his hands were starting to hurt from holding himself up, when another pebble whizzed past his ear.

“Nothing to steal up here. Unless you decided to take up rock climbing, in which case you’re early. The club meets on Saturday mornings,” sneered Mal.

“Here I’d thought I found where they keep the chocolate leftovers,” quipped Jay. He lifted himself up and jumped onto the roof in one solid practiced motion and sat down next to Mal.

He spied her right hand reaching in her pocket and snorted when he saw her clutching a black pebble. She cast an exasperated look his way before casually throwing the tiny rock towards the tourney field.

Jay observed it flying until it landed somewhere in the pathway surrounding the castle.

“Your arm throw needs work,” he commented as he settled his back on the roof tiles, bringing his arms up to cradle his head.

“I don’t remember asking for your judgment,” Mal barked.

He jumped, surprised at her outburst as she turned her face away from him and brought her knees to her chest.

Mal had been Jay’s friend for as long as he could remember. Sure, back on the Isle he preferred to call her an ally, a partner in his thieving schemes and someone it didn’t hurt to be found with if only to increase his street cred. Gradually, though, as they got older, Jay found himself counting on her. He knew she got snarky when she was annoyed and that she would be quietly scratching her Dragon tattoo when thinking about her mom. He also knew her ‘I-really-don’t-care’ persona hid two possible explanations: a) I really don’t care, or b) I care too much to talk about it.

But, outbursts?

Mal avoided them like the plague. She had never admitted it out loud but Jay didn’t need to be a psychic to understand it was because she was afraid of showing anything got to her. Vulnerability was her worst nightmare.

“Hey,” he muttered as he lowered his arms and looked at his friend, “Mal, come on, I was just joking.”

He got no response. Instead, he swore that in the quiet of the night he could hear Mal breathe in sharply.

Jay sighed and stood up.

“Listen, maybe it was a mistake coming here. I mean I’ve known you’ve been hiding out here for two weeks now and I just-

“You knew?” Mal’s voice was shrill and Jay flinched.

“Well, yeah. I mean, you are sitting over the boys’ dormitories throwing rocks and well, tiny noises tend to wake me up, you know?” He finished lamely, cringing at his own attempt to placate her.

Perhaps invading his half-dragon friend’s private time had not been the best plan, after all. Still, he hadn’t taken the risk for no reason. Jay licked his lips and nodded to himself. He had come this far. Besides, Mal was already annoyed with him. He could just as well get everything out there. Worst-case scenario he would end up as target practice for the rest of Mal’s pebbles.

_And if Carlos asks about any scars, I was doing extra practice for next week’s tourney game._

Jay stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked down.

“Listen, I was... I was worried. I woke up about two weeks ago from those noises and I figured someone was up here, so naturally I came here to investigate. When I saw it was you, I thought you needed some alone time, so I said nothing. But then I noticed you yawned more than usual and I figured you weren’t getting enough sleep. And then, you started eating lunch in the art room.”

He shook his head.

“I know you told Evie it was because you’re working on a piece. Didn’t exactly sit well with me, though. So, I decided to come up here tonight to see how you’re doing or, I don’t know, give you a chance to talk about it? I’m guessing since you’re coming here in the middle of the night, you haven’t mentioned anything to Evie about what’s bothering you.”

He chanced a glance at Mal, but she was still turned away from him. Scuffing at the tile with his foot, he moved towards the edge of the stone wall.

“I can’t talk to Evie about it.”

Jay stopped in his tracks and frowned. He couldn’t remember the last time that Mal couldn’t share something with Evie. Ever since the crazy quest for Maleficent’s scepter and the roller coaster that was their experience at Auradon Prep, the two were closer than ever.

He felt Mal’s piercing gaze on his neck and reached to scratch his head.

“That bad, huh?” he said in the end, making a complete turn to face her.

His friend gave an almost imperceptible nod and Jay swayed a bit on his feet, suddenly wishing he had brought a coin or even a pen to distract his hands like he did during class. It dawned on him then that this sort of pent up energy was the reason that had Mal throwing pebbles and almost cost him his eye.

He took a moment to observe his friend. Aside from not hiding her face from him, Mal hadn’t changed her posture. She was hugging her knees close to her chest and had fixed her gaze on the tourney field. Her shoulders were tense.

A hazy memory seemed to spring up in his mind.

The roof had been much dirtier, of course, and they had been in the company of more than a few rats. Unlike the streetlamps lighting the expanses of Auradon Prep, the only light had been provided from the crescent moon and the stars. Their clothes had been crusted with mud and dust from exploring an abandoned building at the edge of town. It had been a good day for them.

_“We should head home. I’m beat,” Jay suggested._

_Mal curled into herself and continued to stare in the distance._

_“I don’t want to face her tonight,” she whispered._

Oh. In a moment all the anxious energy that filled him left. Mal wasn’t upset or angry or vengeful. She was scared.

“Have you been attending Fairy Godmother’s empathy seminars by any chance?” quipped Mal when he sat next to her again.

“Yeah, as if we need a seminar to tell us we should take care of each other because we’re the only family we’ve got left,” he snorted.

It wasn’t like Carlos and Evie couldn’t stand up for themselves. Jay had seen Carlos mess up someone’s mix in chem lab because they had told him Dude smelled badly and Evie was more than capable of producing an eviscerating speech. But, Jay and Mal were the protectors. He had the muscle; she had the magic and the intimidation techniques. They were the ones that were at the ready to defend their group and the ones that shut down hurtful rumours before they reached Carlos or Evie.

And, usually, when either of them had something going on, the other would step up a bit more to cover for them. This situation with Mal had started to scare even Jay when she failed to show up to lunch after a week. Mal couldn’t exactly blame him for being here. She would have done the same thing and told him to snap out of whatever had him in a funk.

He wove a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

“So-

“I’m in love with Evie.”

Jay was pretty certain that he looked like a cartoon. Whatever words had been about to leave his mouth were forgotten. He felt his jaw slacken. His eyes widened.

Mal had lowered her head and was playing with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.

Jay tried to gather his thoughts so he could find a suitable reply before Mal got fed up with his staring and cursed him off the top of the building. However, the only thing his mind was set on analyzing in that moment was every interaction between Mal and Evie for the past few months.

There was that time when Evie was too busy studying for a history test to leave their room so Mal had brought her lunch. He hadn’t thought much of that because they would all have done that, plus Mal was Evie’s roommate. Then, there was the other time when they were all hanging out in the girls’ room to study and Mal had been sketching and looking at Evie in intervals. Jay could now bet what her subject had been. And a few days ago, Evie had asked Mal’s opinion on what dress she should wear to Jordan’s most recent event and Mal had actually bothered to pick the darker blue one because _“It just makes your eyes look brighter, alright?”_

“Holy shit,” escaped him before he could contain it.

 Mal let out a humourless chuckle.

“Didn’t see that coming, huh?”

“Surprised I didn’t notice sooner actually,” he said, leaning his side against the roof, trying to process the revelation.

His mind was reeling. He started thinking about Evie and how she would take it. She would always get this small smile whenever Mal leaned on her when they watched a movie. She would be the only one able to get a sneak peek at Mal’s drawings; she would always stroke Mal’s hair whenever Mal was upset. Plus, Evie had been the one Mal chose to go with her when she visited her mother for first time in her lizard imprisonment.

A smile took over his face at the thought of his two friends together, until he remembered what Mal had said earlier.

“Wait, why are you not telling her?”

Mal turned to face him so fast he almost got a whiplash.

“Are you seriously asking me, Jay?” she hissed. “Look at me.”

“I am,” he replied perplexed, “and I don’t see what you mean.”

Mal sighed impatiently and rubbed her forehead in irritation.

“Jay,” she began, “what am I?”

“Um, Mal, I think I should warn you I didn’t attend any seminars about existential issues, either,” he hedged.

 Mal growled and glared at him.

“Just. Answer. The. Question,” her green eyes were glowing.

“Okay,” Jay raised his arms in surrender, “you are Mal, daughter of Maleficent.”

“And my mother could transform into what?” Mal continued. She looked frustrated, like she had to guide a five year old to the answer of one plus one equals two.

“A dragon,” he answered. “Oh, wait. You mean how you’re a half-dragon?”

Mal breathed in relief and got up. She walked to the edge of the roof and settled down on the wall, swinging her feet.

“What does that have to do with Evie, though?” Jay asked, joining her.

“Jay, Evie’s mom is the Evil Queen. When we got here, all Evie wanted was to find a prince. Sure, now she has standards as well, but that doesn’t mean the prince part has changed. A _prince_ , Jay, not a half-dragon with a mother who refuses to love me and threatens to burn everything down even in lizard form. What do I have to offer her in the place of palaces and servants and whatever other riches they have?”

Jay could see a couple of tears running down Mal’s cheeks.

He didn’t speak.

Truth was he could easily understand where she was coming from. They were the kids of two of the most vicious villains in history. They didn’t have any possessions but their clothes and whatever skills they honed back on the Isle and here on Auradon. Aside from the fact that they’d always have each other, their future was uncertain. Hell, he often thought the way Mal did. Who was he but the son of a disillusioned villain? Who was he but a reformed thief?

There was only one thing he could offer and that was his protection and his loyalty. To his friends.

“Both Evie and Carlos would have yelled at you for talking this way about yourself,” he whispered and shuffled next to her to draw her in a one-armed hug.

Mal didn’t protest, resting her head on his shoulder.

Jay felt the silence enshroud them and with it, a peculiar sense of calm as his subconscious whispered that Aladdin had once been just a thief too.

“Hey Mal, you got any pebbles left?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this. It's my attempt to get back to writing, so any feedback would be really appreciated. 
> 
> And, if you'd like to see a sequel to this with actual Malvie in it, let me know :)


End file.
